Posts Tagged ‘Lake Champlain-Champlain Valley’

The hill that separates the outlet of Lake George from the creek that opens into Lake Champlain is among the oldest portages in continuous use in North America.

The Native Americans gave it a name: Ticonderoga, “the place between waters.”

Up and down its slope have passed explorers and naturalists such as Isaac Jogues and Peter Kalm, travelers such as Thomas Jefferson and, of course, the armies of the French, the British and the Americans as supremacy over North America and its strategic waterways shifted from one nation to another. » Continue Reading.

The Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) is seeking proposals for local grants to support the implementation of the long term management plan for Lake Champlain, Opportunities for Action. The LCBP anticipates awarding about 50 local grants totaling $395,000 to a variety of projects form eduction, the environment, to the region’s heritage. Funding for these awards originates from the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and the National Park Service.

The public, organizations, businesses, municipalities, and others interested in the plans for running an underwater power transmission line on the bottom of Lake Champlain from Canada to the southern end are invited to a Champlain Hudson Power Express Public Informational Meeting to learn more about this project and have an opportunity to ask questions.

Representatives from Transmission Developers Incorporated will be in Plattsburgh to provide an update on the current status of the project along with near- and long-term plans and timeframes for constructing this power line. Information on what this project might look like for Lake Champlain, the route of the power cable and how it will be installed, equipment needed for the installation, and time frames will be included in the discussions. Updates on progress to date including such items as approvals and permits, as well as, underwater surveying and mapping will be presented. » Continue Reading.

An attack led by patriot Colonel John Brown will take British troops garrisoning Fort Ticonderoga by surprise (again) 236 years later during an upcoming event at Fort Ticonderoga on Saturday and Sunday, September 14-15, from 9:30am- 5pm. The living history weekend and battle re-enactment will for the first time ever recreate what has become known as Brown’s Raid.

Out of the hazy twilight before dawn on September 18, 1777 rushed Colonel John Brown’s men, catching the British and Brunswick garrison around Fort Ticonderoga completely by surprise. John Brown, no stranger to dangerous missions, helped engineer the first capture of Ticonderoga in 1775. With the stakes even higher, he would test his luck again. » Continue Reading.

Minerva, primitive and remote in the early 1800s, hardly would have seemed a likely birthplace for a man who would write a book which would attract national attention, make the author a household name, and, to some degree, help start a civil war. But indeed, it was there that Solomon Northup, author of Twelve Years A Slave, was born.

Technically the town of Minerva did not exist at the time of Solomon’s birth on July 10, 1807 (though his book gives 1808 as his year of birth, more official documents have it as 1807); the town of Minerva was not formed until 1817. In 1807 the area, not yet known as Minerva, would have been part of the Town of Schroon. » Continue Reading.

You can measure time a number of ways aboard the Fort Ticonderoga ferry. The voyage from shore to shore of the Lake Champlain Narrows takes seven and a half minutes. Set your watch. Seven and a half minutes across, seven and a half minutes back.

Or you can free your mind to roam as you chug across the waterway. Let the Civics, Fiestas, and 4-by-4’s on the deck dissolve in your imagination and be replaced by rustic passengers in the rowboats and canoes that plied the crossing when ferry service began in 1759. Or picture those that crowded onto the sailing scow that went into service in 1800. This is the grand sweep of time through the generations, played out under the gaze of colonial Fort Ticonderoga, which played key roles in the formation of this country. » Continue Reading.

The artist Sheri Amsel has created a beautiful map of the Champlain Valley with illustrations of the region’s wildlife and habitats. It also shows the region’s many hiking trails. I suppose a hiker could fold it and put it in a backpack, but I’ll bet more people will frame it and put in on their wall.

Amsel, a resident of the town of Essex, made the map to draw attention to the natural history and beauty of the valley. “I think the Champlain Valley is an untapped resource,” she said.

The 24-by-37-inch map shows roads, hiking trails, lakes, wetlands, peaks, boat launches, fishing-access spots, and state campgrounds in the Champlain region between Ticonderoga and Willsboro Point. The map differentiates between dirt and paved roads. The trails are numbered and cross-referenced in a table that names the trails and gives the hiking distances. Although the map can be used for planning trips, for serious hikes, you should pack a topographical map. » Continue Reading.

Fort Ticonderoga will hold a two-day battle re-enactment highlighting the 1758 Battle of Carillon when the British amassed the largest army in North American history to date, but was stunningly defeated by a French army a quarter of its size. The event takes place Saturday and Sunday, July 20-21, 9:30am to 5 pm.

Highlighted programming featured throughout the weekend brings to life the story of the French soldiers that protected their lines of defense against all odds as British and Provincial soldiers attempted to drive the French from the rocky peninsula and fortress of Carillon, later named Ticonderoga. Recreated French and British armies will maneuver across Fort Ticonderoga’s historic landscape during re-enactments at 1:30 pm each day. » Continue Reading.

For the 6th year, the Adirondack Coast Cultural Alliance (ACCA) has organized free admission to 14 participating museums, cultural centers and historical societies for the first weekend in June.

The Champlain Valley Transportation Museum’s Director and Fundraising and Membership Lisa Fountain says, “This weekend our Kids Station will be open on Saturday only. We will have crafts for parents and children to do together. This year we have our Robotics coach Justin Collins here with a robot demonstration. Kids can test the robot and play with it. Justin runs our Robotics Camp in the summer. He will be available to answer any questions regarding the camp.” » Continue Reading.

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